For more than 25 years, Sean Riley has supported Jackson Memorial Hospital in a variety of roles \u2014 from mental health to landscaping \u2014 today, he works in supply chain, helping ensure the hospital has what it needs to care for patients. His routine was simple: a 15-minute scooter ride to work, followed by a short walk to his office \u2014 located, as it would turn out, just beneath Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial.<\/p>\n
On June 30, 2025, that routine was suddenly interrupted.<\/p>\n
After three days of feeling dizzy and not himself, Riley woke up on a Monday morning planning to go to work as usual. Over the weekend, he had fallen off his scooter while riding with friends at a slow speed, brushing it off as dehydration. But when his symptoms didn\u2019t improve, he made a small but crucial decision: instead of riding his scooter, he drove the less than 10 minutes to the hospital \u201cjust in case.\u201d<\/p>\n
As soon as he walked inside, Riley noticed something was very wrong. He kept drifting to one side, and the room felt like it was spinning. His supervisor immediately recognized the signs and had him admitted for testing.<\/p>\n
The diagnosis: ischemic stroke.<\/p>\n
An ischemic stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked, cutting off the blood supply. It accounts for about 87 percent of cases, making it the most common stroke type.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had damaged nerve endings on the right side of my brain, which caused loss of function on the left side of my body,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n
Soon after arriving at Jackson Memorial, he began losing feeling on the left side of his body \u2014 just the beginning of a long recovery journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost completely lost all function on my left side. I couldn\u2019t move my leg, my foot, my arm,\u201d Riley said. \u201cYou know it\u2019s there, but you can\u2019t do anything with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors treated and monitored him closely for several days, managing his blood pressure and ensuring he wasn\u2019t bleeding heavily before he could begin rehabilitation. On the third day, he was transferred to Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth\/Jackson Memorial, where his recovery officially began.<\/p>\n
There, Riley worked with occupational and physical therapists Monday through Friday, determined to regain his movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSean came in with a lot of energy, which is very difficult to have at this stage,\u201d said Ariana Gutierrez, Riley\u2019s occupational therapist. \u201cI went in every morning at 7:30 a.m. \u2014 most of my patients don\u2019t want to wake up that early \u2014 but he was already ready to go. We were the first people in the gym every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Riley first arrived, he couldn\u2019t lift his arm over his head. Movements that once felt automatic had become impossible on the left side of his body. While his speech and facial movement were unaffected, Riley was determined to regain full function. He worked day and night with that goal in mind.<\/p>\n
That dedication made all the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time he left inpatient rehab, I knew he was ready for outpatient therapy \u2014 and I knew he was going to excel,\u201d Gutierrez said.<\/p>\n
After discharge, Riley began outpatient therapy, working closely with Jill Munro and other physical therapists.<\/p>\n
The focus shifted to rebuilding strength and endurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came in, he wasn\u2019t able to run or do many of the things he could do before,\u201d Munro said. \u201cWe worked on strengthening, and eventually, he was able to jog on the treadmill at a pretty decent speed for long periods of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
His therapy included squats, step-ups, calf raises, leg presses, and other strength-building exercises.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor every session I had with her, I would leave sweating,\u201d Riley said. \u201cShe really helped bring me back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Munro and Gutierrez agree that what set Riley apart was his attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a go-getter,\u201d Munro said. \u201cHe did everything we asked him to do, he is a super motivated human.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the attitude Sean had makes all the difference,\u201d Gutierrez added.<\/p>\n
Today, Riley is back at work, once again walking the Jackson Memorial corridors \u2014 a testament to early recognition, comprehensive care, and his relentless determination.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody did what they were supposed to do to get me to where I\u2019m at today,\u201d Riley said. \u201cI can be nothing but thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For more than 25 years, Sean Riley has supported Jackson Memorial Hospital in a variety of roles \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[62482,62473,59927,62466,62475,225,227,226,62484,62470,62463,41933,62481,62477,62480,62469,62471,62472,62468,62485,62479,62476,62483,62464,62467,62474,62465,62478],"class_list":["post-126091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-blood-vessel-blockage-brain","tag-brain-injury-recovery","tag-christine-e-lynn-rehabilitation-center","tag-early-stroke-recognition","tag-health-care-worker-stroke","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-hospital-based-rehabilitation-care","tag-inpatient-rehabilitation-center","tag-ischemic-stroke","tag-jackson-memorial-hospital","tag-left-side-paralysis-stroke","tag-miami-project-to-cure-paralysis","tag-mobility-recovery-after-stroke","tag-occupational-therapy-stroke-recovery","tag-outpatient-stroke-therapy","tag-paralysis-recovery","tag-physical-therapy-after-stroke","tag-physical-therapy-success-story","tag-returning-to-work-after-stroke","tag-ryder-trauma-center","tag-stroke-patient-success-story","tag-stroke-recovery","tag-stroke-rehabilitation","tag-stroke-survivor-story","tag-stroke-symptoms-warning-signs","tag-uhealth-jackson-rehabilitation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}